


pencil your name into the sun

by softvoice



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Kissing, M/M, Minho wants to impress his boyfriend of five-and-a-half months so bad it makes him look stupid, Picnics, Summer, botanical gardens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:05:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27190129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softvoice/pseuds/softvoice
Summary: Lee Minho can't be crowned the picnic packer of the century, but he sure does make a mean charcuterie board, packed with tiny crackers he'd bought on sale and cheeses that were priced so high he gets a pressure headache even thinking about them. He's not the master of outdoor lunches, but he's damn lucky that Jisung is so easily impressed. Or in love with him. Maybe it's both.--In which Minho takes Jisung to a botanical garden.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Comments: 20
Kudos: 153
Collections: MINSUNG SEASON: Colourful Autumn 2020





	pencil your name into the sun

**Author's Note:**

> hi
> 
> → this is my entry for the [minsung colourful autumn challenge](https://twitter.com/minsungseason), which has been very fun to participate in. please support the other authors and artists participating in this fest, everyone has worked really hard and deserves lots of support!!  
> → my colour was green and i have drawn inspiration from the very funky colours of the very funky botanical garden they're going to. i hope you like green because it's everywhere.  
> → i hope some mindless fluff brings you some peace today (this fic is the mindless fluff). please enjoy.
> 
> **tw:** food

Minho is  _ far  _ from an amateur picnic packer.

It had been a simple idea at first, really. Take advantage of the sunny weather and convince Jisung to leave his computer for long enough to experience fresh air? Minho may as well be a damn genius, because this could very well be his best idea yet.

Except it’s not, and maybe he’d overestimated his picnic packing skills because the elements of the charcuterie board he’d meticulously planned to assemble amongst the Great Outdoors are going a little less perfect than expected. Nonetheless, he tosses the bag of still-wet-from-washing grapes into the picnic basket and practically collapses into a barstool.

Food may not be his forte, but brilliant date ideas? Now that’s definitely Minho’s area of expertise. After all, what could be better than taking his boyfriend to a botanical garden  _ and  _ feeding him expensive meats and cheeses?

The answer is nothing. He reminds himself that this is the best idea he’s ever had and will ever have, allowing the moment of self-satisfaction to settle into his bones. Jisung is going to love this. 

It came to him last week, the summer heat working overtime and leaving him exhausted, dramatically splayed out on the couch. While he was quite possibly delusional from the heat, the idea of a fresh breeze and the smell of Nature gave him the maniacal boost of energy that has him shoving bottles of lime cordial and lemonade into a cooler bag three minutes before Jisung is meant to arrive at his apartment. 

Jisung. He smiles fondly at the thought of his boyfriend eating the celery sticks he’d sliced his finger chopping up and possibly humming happily at the taste of the hummus smeared on the tip. If Minho is lucky he’ll snag a nap under the trees, his head resting on Jisung’s thighs with a hand running through his hair — his definition of paradise.

The domestic fantasy is cut bitterly short by the rapping of knuckles on his apartment door: Jisung.

Minho pushes a hand through his hair and pads over to the doorway, turning the handle and grinning when he spots black hair and his favourite smile in the world. He likes to think that Jisung brings with him the sun wherever he goes.

“Baby!” Jisung throws his arms around Minho’s shoulders, pushing up on the balls of his feet to envelope him properly. He always gives the best hugs.

Minho pulls back with a smile, not missing the happy glint in Jisung’s eye. “Hi,” he says, hands finding his waist. “I hope you bought a change of clothes, Sungie, you might just boil in the sun.”

Jisung’s hair falls into his eyes as he tilts his head. “We’re going outside?” he asks, a crease forming between his eyebrows. “I thought we were just gonna watch movies?”

“I’m taking you on a proper date, silly.” Minho shakes his head and tugs Jisung into the apartment. “Come, let’s find you something to wear.”

“I think I’m very cute, no matter what I’m wearing.”

“You absolutely are, but sweats and a hoodie are great for my freezing home, not so much if we’re sitting in the sun.”

“Can you at least tell me where we’re going, then?” Jisung whines, tugging on Minho’s wrist.

“No, I don’t think I will,” he says. “It’s a surprise.”

Jisung huffs. “I’ll have you know that I’m very good at pretending to be surprised.”

“Yeah?” Minho pecks his lips, only to be interrupted by the silly little smile finding its way onto his face the second he’s in contact with his boyfriend. “I’m sure you’ll be even better when it’s  _ real  _ surprise.”

“I saw the cooler in the kitchen, though.”

“And you will give it no more thought if you know what’s good for you.”

Jisung giggles. “Oh yeah? What are you gonna do, huh?” 

If it weren’t for the heat, Minho might have wrapped him up in a blanket and held him to himself all afternoon, but he’s a man on a mission, so a kiss to shut Jisung up will have to do for now.

Luckily for him, Jisung is just as weak.

“Look at the flowers, hyung!” 

Jisung runs ahead to a particularly colourful flowerbed, leaving Minho to carry the basket, cooler and picnic blanket with a fond smile. 

“You find something pretty, Jisung?”

“The orange ones, look.” he points at the flowers beyond the initial ring of white and yellow. “I think they’re lilies?”

Minho catches up to him and peers at the small botanical tag next to the bed. Jisung is correct in his assessment. “Tiger lilies,” he says. “Pretty, aren’t they?”

His childhood fixation on botany comes in handy with a boyfriend like Jisung, attracted to the flashy, bold colours but finding equal happiness in gazing softly at tiny, white daisies and scattered perennials. In a way, Jisung reminds him of himself, stealing his father’s botanical guides and watching them stack up on his bookshelf until he’d removed his plushies to make room for more.

It’s cute, watching Jisung fawn over the tiny flowers that fill the gaps in the beds. He also takes a particular liking to the long grasses, yellows, greens and browns with tufty ends that tickle his ears as he moves along the pathway.

Had this been a nature hike, he imagines Jisung would have plucked a stalk to tickle Minho’s ear, but he’s nothing if not respectful of the rules laid out for them when they’d arrived at the botanical gardens.

“We should find somewhere to sit,” he says. “One of the clearings near the waterfall would be nice, don’t you think?”

Jisung’s eyes light up, nodding vigorously at the suggestion. “I’m so excited for the food you’ve prepared, hyung.”

Minho knows Jisung is trying to butter him up, get him all mushy before he’s even sat down. And by  _ God,  _ it’s working. Curse him for being so weak for the endearing tone Jisung puts on just to get his way. “You’re a nightmare to surprise.”

Jisung giggles and presses a kiss to Minho’s lips. “Yeah,” he says, “But you like me so much.”

This earns him an eye-roll and another round of laughter when he spots to colour blooming on Minho’s cheeks. 

“Shut up,” Minho grumbles. “Let’s just go find a place to eat, brat.” In his haste to avoid Jisung’s jubilant gaze, he begins heading down the path to the gift shop before he’s halted by a hand on his wrist.

“I thought you knew your way around here, hyung.” Jisung points to the signpost, indicating the waterfall down the other trail of the fork in the road. “It’s okay, I understand that you were temporarily incapacitated by my dashing good l—”

He’s cut off by an unimpressed scoff from Minho. “You lead the way, then, babe.” he offers, waving Jisung down the other path. "Since you know  _ so  _ much."

Jisung is never one to back down from a challenge, much less one so perfectly crafted by Minho. He bounds off, confidence dripping off the spring in his step without the weight of the unbelievably heavy picnic left to be carried by his diligent boyfriend.

Minho knows Jisung will find them a nice spot. He carries his own confidence — albeit with a little less energy spilling from his ears — in Jisung's picnicking abilities after spending five-and-a-half months letting him take him on date after creative date. In a way, this is why Minho is so hellbent on making this one perfect.

He follows him and can't believe he'd turned away from the crashing echo of the waterfall in his haste to avoid the crippling embarrassment of Jisung knowing he has any sort of power over him. The humiliation he’d granted himself is arguably worse as he tries to curb his ridiculous blush, as though Jisung hasn’t already seen it.

“Here seems nice, hyung,” Jisung calls over his shoulder, face still split in a shit-eating grin. “Hurry up and bring the blanket, my poor legs are  _ aching _ .”

Minho knows Jisung is teasing him and purposefully slows his pace while holding eye contact. “You carried nothing, you bastard.” He realises a moment too late that he’s walked straight into Jisung’s trap.

“It’s hard, you know,” he says with a dead-serious expression, given away only by the shimmer of amusement in his eye. “Carrying the weight of being the hottest man alive.”

Minho groans, speeding up to catch Jisung and drop the bags by the tree he’d chosen. He then turns to lunge at his boyfriend, tackling him to the ground. “You’re insufferable, you know that?”

“Yeah, but you love it.”

He rolls his eyes and pecks Jisung’s lips. “I guess I do.”

“Exactly. Now, let me up so we can get this feast started.”

Minho rolls off of Jisung, pushing his shoulder back down to the grass. “Nuh-uh, this is  _ my  _ date for  _ you _ .”

He props himself up on his elbows. “Just let me help, babe, it’s not that deep.”

“Can’t you just sit there and look pretty?” Minho loves playing into the things that fluster Jisung, taking any opportunity to bring colour to his cheeks. It’s only payback for the number of times Jisung has left him a stuttering, red-faced trainwreck of a man. Of course he seizes the chance.

It’s hardly a surprise when Jisung ducks his head, muttering something about  _ stupid pretty boys  _ and their  _ stupid way with words.  _ Minho doesn’t want to assume he’s got the upper hand within his grasp. He’ll leave his flushed boyfriend to his mumbled threats of violence while he sets up the frankly immaculate picnic he’d prepared.

‘Ooh, you got the fancy cheese?” Jisung pipes up from his sprawled-out position on the grass — he knows not to test Minho by trying to gain access to the cat-printed picnic blanket just yet. “You shouldn’t have, hyung.”

“I also like nice things, brat,” Minho says. “Not everything is about you.”

“No, I think it is.” Jisung is  _ such  _ a bastard. “You just don’t want to admit it.”

Minho pulls the grapes from the cooler bag and arranges them on the board next to the ridiculous little saltine crackers and blocks of gouda piled neatly near the center. “What happened to sitting pretty and shutting up, huh?”

Jisung doesn’t fall for his trap this time. “Being pretty is your job, though.”

“You’re shameless.”

“And your ass looks amazing in those shorts.”

Minho scoffs at his over-the-top flirting. “You’re lucky I’m done setting up.”

“Oh yeah?” Jisung crawls onto the blanket and settles himself across from Minho. His cocky tone is almost convincing if Minho ignores the way he’s beaming. “What are you gonna do, huh?”

It’s Minho’s turn to avoid the bait, instead passing Jisung a glass of lime-and-lemonade with what can only be described as a customer-service smile. “Shut up and drink.” He’s always so contrarian. “You’ve gotta stay hydrated, babe.”

“You’re right, I’m just he— oh my god, do  _ not  _ move.”

Minho would ask what the hell has Jisung so dead-set on finding his phone if it weren’t for the giant black-and-green butterfly resting on his nose. It might have dawned on him that it could be for photography purposes had he not been preoccupied with the genuine confusion involved in having a butterfly perched on his nose, its tiny legs moving ever so slightly to keep its balance.

“You’re so pretty,” Jisung breathes. Minho glances over — slowly so as to not disturb the butterfly — and catches his boyfriend’s phone up in front of his face. 

“Are you recording?” he asks, more aware of his voice than ever. 

“Gotta capture the prettiest flower, don’t I?”

The butterfly takes off and Minho blames it entirely on Jisung’s absolutely shameless flirting. “You’re the worst.”

“Oh, am I?” Jisung shuffles right up to Minho. “You wanna kiss me anyway, though.”

There’s not much that could keep Minho from seaming their lips together, if for nothing else but to shut Jisung’s mouth. It’s always so easy with him, the way the lime lingers in his mouth, the way he grabs at Minho like he’s something to be held. It’s always just  _ so  _ easy.

“Calm down, hyung,” Jisung laughs, “We’ve got plenty of time.”

He’s right. They have all the time in to enjoy the warm afternoon under the shade of the oak Jisung had found for them, dappled sunlight falling on Minho’s face as his head finds its favourite pillow in Jisung’s lap. It’s exactly how he’d imagined it, right down to the hand carding through his hair, with the added touch of Jisung leaning down to hear him sleepily mumble facts about the plant life and the various ecosystems blossoming in his mind the longer he’s there.

As cheesy as it sounds, the fantasy couldn’t have even begun to formulate the peace he feels. To him, this is what love feels like. Love.

_ God, does he love Jisung. _

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to talk to me on my [twitter](https://twitter.com/linohjs) or send me something neat in my [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/lmhjs). comments and kudos are much appreciated.


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